Flutter's Night

“I'm glad to finally have all the boring negotiations out of the way, miss Apple. This second job is sure to help my restoration project, but I've got a feeling I'll be making some friends at the same time.” Babs openly snorted at the stallion's corny statement, covering her face defensively when Applejack gave her a stern look. Unfortunately for Applebloom, Babs's snort also acquired Jury's attention. “And who are these fine young fillies?” Babs shifted uncomfortably and Applebloom soon knew why, Jury's ancient-looking eyes staring piercingly into her soul. She stared back at him in defiance, resisting the urge to gulp nervously.

“This here is my sister, Applebloom, our cousin Babs, and their friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.” Applejack watched the fillies expectantly, waiting for them to explosively introduce themselves as the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAY‼ But… they never did, waving timidly instead. Applejack frowned in confusion before shaking out the bad thoughts and pressing on. “Anyway, why don't Ah show ya to yer room, mister Dambridge? When all yer things are squared away ya can join us fer some tea.”

“That seems a fine idea, miss Apple.” He spoke with a charm that only worsened Applebloom's opinion of him every time he articulated a syllable.

“Please, just call me 'Applejack'.”

“Only if you call me 'Jury,' Applejack.” Applebloom really didn't like the smile Applejack wore as she laughed, but she couldn't mention anything to that effect to her friends with Big Macintosh still in earshot. By the time her sister returned with the charming stranger, Applebloom had worked up the courage to speak with less reserve than before.

“So, what's yer Cutie Mark mean?”

“Applebloom!” Applejack swiftly reprimanded. “Cutie Mark's are extremely personal. You can't just go off pryin' willy nilly without gettin' to know somepony first.”

“It's alright, Applejack. It's nothing special, really.” At this he turned his attention to Applebloom in full, the filly feeling a subtle pressure in the back of her mind; perhaps some form of hypnotic magic not tied to a unicorn's horn, almost like something she'd read vampires were capable of. “I'm just a simple carpenter and furniture maker, but I specialize in coffin building. My coffins are decently extravagant, but the real artist of the family is my sister, Regime. She's a stage performer and folk singer rolled into one.”

“Well ain't that somethin'?” Applejack declared, trying to deflate the tension in the room. “How about Ah get that tea? Go ahead and make yourself at home, Jury.” He took a seat far from Applebloom, either to keep from making her more uneasy or to make it seem to others that he was trying to keep from making her more uneasy. Big Mac, as usual, remained standing, watching Jury Dambridge carefully. He hadn't been effected by the charms which had won over his sister, but the eldest capable mare of the household was traditionally in charge in Equestrian society and Big Mac would abide by Applejack's decisions. Applebloom, on the other hoof, was young, feisty, and suspicious.

--

“Ah'm tellin' ya he freaks me out, Twilight. Ah just don't know what to make of him.” Applebloom complained from her seat in the library, sipping the strong black coffee Twilight Sparkle had made. She thought the stuff was downright disgusting without cream, but she wasn't about to admit that to Twilight; if adults could handle it, so would Applebloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had quickly been chased off by Applebloom's paranoid behavior over the past few days and both were off Crusading in some fashion. Meanwhile, Babs had remained by her cousin's side. Babs's parents were on a business trip that would take them months, so she had plenty of time to enjoy Ponyville and its small town charm.

“What the hay is a jackalope, miss Sparkle?” Babs was reading from a book of peculiar creatures native to various forests surrounding Ponyville, including the Everfree and others. Apparently the town had a magnetic effect on dangerous beasts. She was also gulping down the same coffee that Applebloom could barely stand.

“Oh, jackalopes span a plethora of subspecies, including both herbivorous and vampiric varieties, the latter of which I have personal experience with. Chupacabras are their natural enemies, hunting the herbivores and competing with the vampires.” Twilight didn't realize what she'd done until it was too late.

“Are you tellin' me there are real, live, vampiric monsters that ain't extinct yet prowlin' around Ponyville? And ya never thought to mention this to me?”

“Oh dear…”

“How many ponies don't know about this?”

“Um…” The meek voice at the door came from lips mostly hidden by a pink mane, Fluttershy sidling away from the commotion before her. “I can come back later if this is a bad time.”

“Don't be silly, Fluttershy.” Dash had been so silent until this point that she might as well have been somewhere else entirely. Ever since she discovered that Daring Do was a real adventure mare she'd been reading the series with even more dedication, sometimes disappearing from Ponyville to make another cameo in a future book whenever she thought Daring was cryptically requesting help. She hadn't been wrong about such things yet. “Applebloom is just freaking out about jackalopes.”

“Vampiric jackalopes!” Applebloom corrected indignantly, throwing her hooves into the air animatedly. “They're a danger to society and must be avoided!”

“You don't know anything about vampiric jackalopes.” Twilight argued reasonably. “You'd never even heard of them until less than a minute ago.”

“Granted Ah'm a bit new to the subject of jackalopes, but Ah know my vampires and they're all dangerous, especially the ones with wings.” Applebloom turned to her cousin with an attentive expression. “Do jackalopes have wings?”

“Nah, they ain't got no wings.”

“Oh… well that ain't too bad, Ah guess.” Twilight groaned, slamming her hoof into her face dramatically; meanwhile, Fluttershy smiled tightly, stepping up behind Babs to read over her shoulder.

“So nice to see young fillies taking an interest in the local fauna.” The timid pegasus declared skittishly, which was almost normal, but her lips didn't stay separated for very long at a time. Applebloom almost couldn't believe her own thoughts as she contemplated the implications of such an inclination. She watched Fluttershy's lips very closely, but soon found herself being stared down by the commanding eyes of the Stare Master, her thoughts leaving her as she began to shiver slightly. “Twilight, I think the coffee you made was a bit too strong for Applebloom to handle. She has the jitters.”

“Really?” Twilight was incredulous at this news, stepping closer to inspect the filly. She'd only brewed the morning's light roast, the most manageable coffee she owned. “Her cup isn't even half empty.”

“Some ponies just can't handle their caffeine.” Fluttershy informed her bookish friend serenely. “I think I'll take her home so she can recover.”

“NO‼” She's got fangs! “Ah mean… no need! Ah can get there myself. Why don't you just go on an' do whatever it is ya came here to do? Ah-mean-it's-not-like-Ah-can't-walk-or-nothin'! What Ah'm sayin' here is like, hmmm… mmm… mm-- why should Ah impose, ya-know-what-Ah-mean? Huh? Yeahlikeso-okaybye, see ya'll later!” Even Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at Applebloom's sudden and frantic exit, Babs giving Twilight a level look.

“Youze think maybe Fluttershy was right about that caffeine theory?”

--

“Okay, let's review here.” Applebloom whispered to herself as she carefully stepped through town, looking with suspicion at everypony she passed. “Fluttershy is still a vampire, but my sister don't want me talkin' about how she was a vampire… bat… thing before, Ah'm surrounded by jackalopes with fangs, and there's another vampire livin' in my house.” Applebloom shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts and recompose herself. It don't do to walk around talkin' to myself like that, she thought.

“What'th up, Applebloom.”

“Ah! Dear sweet Celestia!” Applebloom leaped a foot into the air, spinning around to face Peppermint Twist-a-loo and pointing an accusing hoof into her face. “Don't sneak up on me like that, ya hear‽”

“Geeth, thorry Applebloom,” she said with genuine remorse. “Didn't mean to thcare you tho bad.” It was impossible for anypony with a heart to stay mad at Twist. “I jutht thaw my friend on the thtreet and thought I'd thay 'hi'.”

“Sorry, Twist. Ah'm just a bit on edge right now, that's all.”

“Now that I think about it,” Twist began, studying Applebloom more closely, “you don't look tho good. Maybe you thould thkip thchool tomorrow and recuperate from… whateverth going on.”

“Haha,” Applebloom chuckled dryly and without humor. “No. Ah'd like to spend as much time away from home as possible right now.”

“Okay.” Twist tilted her head a full thirty degrees, deep in thought for awhile. “Then why don't we grab a thmoothie?”

“That sounds like a great idea to me!”

--

"Come on, guys. Don't chicken out on us now."

"The last time we wandered into a cave we almost got eaten by a giant ursa minor, alright." Snips snapped back, Snails nodding and adding a 'Yeah!' "Forgive us for being more than a little creeped out at the prospect of looking through another cave for a supposedly extinct species of blood-sucking bats."

"Yeah! Fanged bloodletting is horrendous and infamous for its tendency to scar and welt skin, as well as to hurt… a lot."

"Besides, the search is pointless because we already know they aren't there; they would've used echolocation to find us by now." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo exchanged impressed glances before turning back to the boys.

"You two should totes join Scoots and I in Twilight's Young Dictionary club."

"Totes." Snips and Snails held completely blank expressions for a moment while they processed this, Snails finally speaking after nearly three minutes of absolutely nothing happening.

"Does that mean we don't have to go into the cave?"

"Ha! No, we're still going in. Come on." The search wouldn't turn up any bats, but it was agreed that the trip could be cut short when the four of them found a napping cave troll within the first thirty minutes.

--

“No more shall Sugarcube Corner be trapped in the past!” Pinkamena Dianne Pie declared to every customer present, including the recently entered Babs Seed, her cousin, and Twist-a-loo. “With this cord of energy, which shall soon be connected to the crystal battery, I will power the newly arrived magic television screen! Soon the news stations which already grace cities such as Manehattan, Los Pegasus, Vanhoover--”

“Pinkie!” Mrs. Cake interrupted emphatically. “Just plug it in already!”

“Right, sorry.” As the device sparked to life, Babs took a seat at the table where Twist and Applebloom could be found.

“That book sure was interestin'. Ah'm glad Flutters let me finish it before she checked it out.”

“What did thhe need it for?” Applebloom was only half listening to the conversation, shocked at what she saw on the television set.

“Ponyville, a small town surrounded by exotic dangers, was always safe in at least one regard: you could trust your fellow pony there.”

“She needs it as a cross-reference or somethin' fer a paper she's writin' to clear up some misconceptions about the local wildlife.”

“But perhaps that is no longer true. Just last night somepony reported that this mare, a miss Bon-Bon, went missing. She could not be found at her home and she has not been seen since.”

“I didn't know Flutterthy wrote publithed paperth.”

“This alone would be bad enough.”

“Did you know thhe wrote profethionally, Applebloom?”

“However, the situation may be worse than it first appears, as two other mares disappeared three nights ago, and a stallion did as well the night before last…”

“Applebloom?”

“…making Bon-Bon the fourth pony to go missing in Ponyville in less than a week.”

“Applebloom!” The startled filly jolted in her seat, hitting her legs against the table and spilling her smoothie into her lap. Babs laughed openly as Twist covered a grin, Applebloom cringing quite dramatically as the cold reached her nethers.

“Oh ho haha! Yer so cool, Bloomster! Hahaha…!”